A word on rejection

As we all know, rejection is a part of life. A LARGE part of life. Whether hunting for a new job, pitching a story or an agent, we're all bound to face it eventually.

Personally, I sometimes wonder if the ever-present possibility of the short, impersonal rejection letter is what makes a writer, well, a writer. Let me explain.

Back when I was in school, before any of the creative writing students had put ourselves and work out there for the world to see, we were told that we would need to develop a thick skin. We decided, as a social experiment to poke a little harmless fun at the process. Instead of ripping up our rejection letters and lighting them on fire, we preserved them, kept them in binders. Heck, some of us even framed them and stuck them on the fridge. We wore them like war badges.

Once, I decided to pitch a story to Glamour magazine. I knew it was a long shot, I hadn't really seen anything like what I was pitching in the magazine before. But I felt like I should go for it. If nothing else, at least I could say I'd once pitched to them. When I received my rejection ~~letter~~ post card, I put it on Facebook along with a sarcastic comment on the nice personal touch (they had addressed it to "writer"). To my amusement, none of my fb friends picked up on the joke. Instead, they all congratulated me! I guess getting anything from Glamour magazine is better than nothing at all. (Note this is no disrespect to the magazine. I'm a monthly subscriber and read them almost religiously.)

But when it comes down to it, what is a writer without rejection? How would we ever improve without it, how would we ever grow? In a world full of "yes" would you ever push yourself to your breaking point? Could you ever achieve the masterpiece lying inside of you? Would you even try? If every pile of crap that landed on a publisher's desk landed a huge book deal, what would be the point?

So I think as writers we need to stop and savor the rejection that comes our way. In the end, it will make our successes just that much sweeter.

Comments

October 2020 #AuthorToolboxBlogHop: My (Condensed) Preptober Essentials for NaNoWriMo

Hallelujah! Fall is finally, finally here and after months of miserable summer heat, my writer heart is singing praises for this beautiful October weather. I don't know about you, but my creativity always goes into hibernation in the summer and reawakens in the fall. Perhaps it's my minds way of preparing for what I like to think of as the writer's version of a marathon. Yes, that's right. I'm talking about NaNoWriMo . If you've never heard of National Novel Writing Month, I'll give you the gist. Every November, participants undertake a complete rough draft of a brand new novel. In order to "win," your manuscript must reach 50,000 words. And while the prize consists mostly of bragging rights and a general feeling of achievement, Scrivener does offer a 50% discount to verified winners. While this year will be only my second to participate, I resolved after last years win to commit every year going forward. For me, NaNoWriMo is a perfect excuse t...

#AuthorToolBoxBlogHop - 20 Writing Exercises to Get Unstuck

From time to time, it's inevitable that in between those days of ever-flowing creative genius, writers are bound to hit roadblocks. Whether big or small, tiny bits of dialogue, or entire scenes and chapters, sometimes it can feel like an impossible task to carry on. We're just stuck. And while we will eventually work through it, I've discovered through my bouts of feeling stagnant, that there are often ways to accelerate our creative process. For this month's Author Toolbox Blog Hop topic, I'm compiling a list of 20 creative writing exercises to get unstuck. 1. Try another scene and come back later. A number of things could be affecting your ability to write a certain scene, including your emotional state, health, sleep, etc. Sometimes the answer is to simply take a break and return when you're in the right frame of mind. 2. Take out a sheet of paper and write by hand. Writing by hand is known to engage the entire brain, which is why journaling is so of...

July #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop: Writing My First Spec Script for Television

Happy blog hop day everyone and thank you so much for stopping by mine. By the time you're reading this, we will be well into the month of July and I will have officially begun my Camp NaNoWriMo project. I'm writing this post at the end of June while preparing my plan of attack over the next 31 days in which I plan to write my first ever spec script for television. If you're not familiar with Camp NaNoWriMo, you can check out this blog post where I go into more detail. In essence, it's a month where writers worldwide dedicate themselves to a particular project of their choosing. But personally, I like to think of it as a giant pause button. NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo have become my sole excuse to put down my novel with its seemingly endless revisions and pause for a month to focus on something new. Somehow doing so under the established framework of NaNoWriMo is easier for me than simply picking a random month of my own choosing, which I know I would never do if...

Christy Shuler

Search This Blog